Afterlife
by Kaori Koriryu
Summary: "Do you believe in the afterlife?"/ "The afterlife? What do you mean?" A simple one-shot about two tributes in the Hunger Games, and how they came to meet again after death.


**I was recently listening to Safe and Sound several times over, preparing for the big Hunger Games movie debut, and I had to write this. X3 Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. That belongs to Erin Hunter. Also don't own Hunger Games or Safe and Sound.**

Jay blinked, but of course it did nothing for his vision. Rather, what wasn't. He was blind.

_Jay Hane!_

Had he just been reaped? Did they really just call his name?

He listened without listening, standing numbly on the stage, as they were congratulated. The two District Twelve tributes, himself and the girl, Lunar Honoo, were scared. They had nothing to protect themselves, no skills.

The boy was surprised when the female tribute slipped her hand into his. "Jay, don't let them see that you're scared." She muttered defiantly. He could almost picture her glaring into the cameras, daring the Capitol to separate them.

* * *

"You're going to be safe. Safe and sound. You'll get out of here alive." Lunar promised, smoothing down his hair. His blind eyes stared into hers, dull and blank. "You're going to be fine!" She was sobbing now. The sound might attract the Careers, but she didn't care. She laid his head on her lap, still stroking his hair. Nothing appeared to be wrong with him, but she was sure it was her fault.

She had promised herself, you see, to protect him with everything until the end. Then she would kill herself, allowing herself one more moment to confess her feelings to him before she slipped away.

It hadn't worked.

He had eaten some kind of berry she had brought back earlier, one of the only things she could find. Her knife-throwing skills got them food only when she could locate it. She herself hadn't been eating, only out collecting wood and trying to find meat. When she had come back, Jay had been on the ground, dull-eyed.

"_Do you believe in the afterlife?"_

She remembered him asking her that once, a simple conversation starter. They had agreed to stay together until the end the very first day on the train.

_Lunar gave him a curious look. "The afterlife? What do you mean?"_

She could still join him, if he was really dead. She placed her fingers on his throat, checking desperately for a pulse.

"_The afterlife. The place you go to when you die."_

It was faint, but there. She felt close to breaking down entirely, but she did not want to hurt him or herself. He was too far gone for medical treatment. Not even yarrow would help him now.

"_What brings this question up?"_

Suddenly, a desperate and crazy idea occurred to her. Her eyes not leaving his face, she felt around behind her for a certain object.

"_Lately… I've been having dreams. Of my dead family or friends. Even some of the old tributes."_

She held up the leaf packet in front of her, then set it on the ground and opened it tentatively.

"_Do you have… Conversations?"_

The bright red berries looked like dew had gathered on them in the light of the sun. She gathered them in one hand, careful not to crush any.

"_Yes. I miss them. I can't wait to get back to them."_

She raised her hand to her lips.

"_It might be soon, then."_

She tilted her head back and opened her mouth.

"_Yes. I know this may sound cruel, but… I hope your death is soon after mine."_

She opened her hand and let the berries fall.

"_Why?"_

She closed her eyes, waiting.

"_Because… It wouldn't be the same without you."_

In the distance, two cannon shots rang loud and clear, but Lunar and Jay could no longer hear them.

* * *

"I think I used to know someone with the name Jay." Moonkit piped up, walking over to Jaykit and his siblings. She was an only kit, and a few days younger than Jaykit and the others.

"Moonkit… Have you ever heard of someone named Lunar?" the blind gray tabby asked thoughtfully.

"It sounds familiar…." Moonkit said, struggling to remember, desperately wanting to know.

Squirrelflight purred at the two kits getting along, then glanced to her sister, watching beside her, pretending to have come to see if her milk had come yet. "Jaykit has made a new friend." she mumbled.

Leafpool looked at the two, a far-away look in her eyes. "Oh, not at all, Squirrelflight. I have a feeling those two have know each other for a longer time and on a deeper scale than we could ever hope to even begin understanding."

**I hope you liked it! X3 By the way, translations for the Japanese names:**

**Hane= Feather**

**Honoo= Blaze**

**In my old story that I deleted, Moonblaze was the main character in a time after the original Clans, so I decided to reuse her here. :D **

**Please tell me what you think in a review!**

**~Kaori**


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